Flames announce season schedule

GLENS FALLS >> The Adirondack Flames will play 17 Saturday night home games during their inaugural season in Glens Falls.

The Flames, competing in the AHL’s Western Conference North Division, will host nine teams that have never visited Adirondack before including the reigning Calder Cup champion Texas Stars on Dec. 5.

The Flames, an affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, open their season on the road at Rochester on Friday, Oct. 10, and entertain Northway rival Albany the next night — Saturday, Oct. 11 — in their first ever regular-season game on home ice.

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“Overall, we’re quite pleased with how the schedule came together,” team President Brian Petrovek said in a statement. “We’re especially excited for our fans who will see teams and future stars never seen here before.”

One drawback, however, is that Albany — Adirondack’s longstanding rival — will only visit Glens Falls once, on Opening Night, a result of their playing in two different conferences.

Adirondack will play 40 total games in the division — 12 each (six home, six road) against Utica and Rochester; and eight each (four home, four road) against Toronto and Hamilton.

The Flames will face Lake Erie, Rockford, Oklahoma City and San Antonio four times (two home, two road); and will play every other Western Conference team twice (one home, one road) with the exception of Charlotte, which is not on Adirondack’s schedule.

Outside the conference, in addition to Albany, the Flames will play Syracuse, Binghamton and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the franchise that left Glens Falls last spring to play in Allentown, Pa. The Phantoms will visit Adirondack on Oct. 18.

All AHL teams play 76 games -- 38 at home and 38 on the road.

The Flames have five Friday night home contests and three Sunday (5 p.m.) matchups. There will be five games on Tuesdays, seven on Wednesdays and one on Thursday. All home games will begin at 7 p.m. with the exception of New Year’s Eve (5:30 p.m.) and the three-game Sunday series.

The two longest homestands are five games from New Year’s Eve to Jan. 9 and six games from Jan. 24 through Feb. 10.